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Happy New Year, readers! I can’t believe it’s already 2012! To be honest, I have no complaints about moving on to this year. I don’t know about you, but I’m in dire need of a fresh start. Do you make any New Year’s resolutions for this year? I’m pretty terrible at keeping resolutions myself, but I figure that if I make them beauty related, that I’ll be more likely to stick to them. (We all know that even if I intend to start working on my fitness, keep my room clean, or improve my math skills, somewhere around February my resolve to do any of those things will peter out.) Are you the same way? If so, here are seven pretty New Year’s resolutions that I’m going to stick with that will be good for me in the long run – some fun, some challenging – and feel free to take them for yourself!

Resolution No. 6: Play with My Hair

This may be a little gross, but I have a tendency to pick at my skin, often for no reason (i.e., even if I have no pimples). Sometimes I really can’t help myself. I’ve gotten a lot better at controlling this, but I am going to stop picking, poking, and squeezing this year. I have nice skin! I should leave it alone. (Science fun fact: this is called dermatillomania.)

This is another bad one: I am not great at remembering to take my makeup off before I go to bed. Especially with the advent of so many makeup removal wipes on the market and the fact that I received a limited-editionClarisonic Mia for my birthday this year, this is inexcusable behavior. (And the more regularly I remove my makeup at night, the better my skin will be – therefore, the less I will have anything to pick at. Good habits beget more good habits!)

Moisturize with more regularity/frequency. I guess the importance of this is especially apparent to me in winter, when parts of my face (I have combination skin) are flaking off like a sfogliatelle and the rest of it is just drier than usual – but my face is the only part of my body that I give any moisturizer love to because of its high visibility. I need to moisturize my whole body ALL the time. I recently read somewhere that I should keep my moisturizer in the shower so I can apply it as soon as I towel off – and I’ve started doing that. I’m pretty forgetful, but this has worked out pretty well so far!

Start an anti-aging skincare regime. I’m in my early twenties, sure, and I am very lucky that my skin is in the shape that it is, but I am getting a little anxious about my skin. I especially need to start taking care of the area around my eyes, my forehead, and around my mouth, because I am highly expressive. Related: I need to find my ultimate everyday SPF facial moisturizer. Recommendations, anyone?

Switch up my beauty routine! I completely love the beauty look I have now, but sometimes I feel like I’ve taken the easy way out and that I’m too comfortable with it. I know there’s the whole adage, “find what works for you and stick with it,” but beauty is an art – and artists should take risks! I wear “crazy” lipstick shades often, but in high school I used to wear bright eyeshadow shades with way more frequency than I do now – I’m going to try to get back into doing that, at least once in a while.

On a related note to the last, I NEVER experiment with my hair. I don’t mean cutting it all off, because I’ve had short hair, long hair, bangs, layers, and everything in between. My hair is ALWAYS straight, however, and I never take the time to curl it or make it wavy, so I want to play with my hair more this year. And I’ve never dyed my hair and I keep thinking about taking the plunge, or at least with semi-permanent dye – is this my year?

Drink more water. You might be thinking this is an easy one, but only in the past year have I started to drink more water. I am really proud of myself about my hydration habits and this year, I’m keeping it up! I drink maybe three or four glasses a day, so I’m going to attempt to up the ante a little bit. It’s so good for the body and the skin – and I get migraine headaches, so I’m hoping that drinking more water will help them.

Okay, everyone – what do you think of my New Year’s beauty resolutions? Am I going to stick with them? Do you have any advice for me to help me keep my resolutions (I would love the help!)? Are there any on here that you are going to try to keep yourself this year?

Thank you so much for reading my blog in 2011. I’ve really appreciated all your visits and comments, and I hope you stop by in 2012!